Not aware of deadline to Kingfisher by bankers: Mallya

UB Group chief Vijay Mallya on Friday said he is not aware of any deadline given by bankers on recapitalisation of his airline Kingfisher, a comment that comes three days after SBI said the carrier will not fly again if it does not get capital "by month-end".

"I am not aware of any deadline given to Kingfisher by its bankers. I am sorry to say but we have not received any communication in this regard," Mallya said in a conference call while announcing the Rs. 11,166-cr deal between United Spirits and Diageo Plc.

On Tuesday, SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri had said: "Banks' consortium has done everything possible to make the company (Kingfisher) work. Only the company is not working... The management has to get capital. We have given time till November 30 that they should get capital otherwise the company will not fly...."

SBI is the lead bank to ailing Kingfisher Airlines, which has accumulated losses to nearly Rs 9,000 crore as on September 30 due to huge restructuring costs, prior-period tax payments, costs related to its heavy debt burden of about Rs 8,000 crore and disrupted operations.

Asserting that he along and his team is working to make the grounded carrier fly again, Mallya said: "We are working towards a comprehensive rehabilitation plan, including recapitalisation of the airline."

He asserted that the money received from Diageo will not be used to bail out the airline, which has been grounded since September 30.

"Each individual companies are public entities. So the the Kingfisher Airlines issues will be resolved by the the Kingfisher Airlines and UB Holdings... It would be unfortunate if you try to link this transaction with the airline. Lets not cross contaminate everything and interrelate everything," Mallya said.